There is plenty of motivation for teams to go full throttle for the NBA In-Season Tournament. Prize money will make a November game feel much bigger and presumably result in less load management practices. Though, there are franchises like the Golden State Warriors who can benefit tremendously from this competition in a completely different way.

Contending for a higher stakes midseason tournament allows players to get into another gear far earlier than they might normally would over an 82-game campaign. The eventual victor of the NBA Cup will ascend to a high-quality of play while displaying an unmatched level of chemistry. Defense and intensity will probably also need to be ramped up.

These are all the same attributes it takes to navigate the postseason. The Warriors did not really ever fire on all cylinders in 2022-23 and were thus unable to work their way up to legitimate contention status. The extra boost winning the NBA In-Season Tournament is not lost on the organization.

“We're going to be highly competitive towards it. We want to win it,” general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. told Kerith Burke of NBC Sports Bay Area & CA. While no one is going to publicly undersell the importance of this tourney, it would be all too easy for a veteran group whose only concern is titles to just pace themselves in the early portion of the season.

Dubs Nation should appreciate their team's apparent ambition to claim this inaugural midseason crown. Perhaps hoisting the NBA Cup in Las Vegas will be just the burst of energy Golden State needs to hold everything together all year long. The Warriors dynasty is not officially dead yet. The rest of the league might be wise to heed Dunleavy's words.